Chapter 201
“We have safely received the three criminals. They will be processed lawfully according to procedure hereafter.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
“Not at all. This incident occurred because we failed to do our jobs properly, so it is only right that we be reprimanded. We are truly sorry.”
The captain of the guards protecting Ester, the city that had developed around the Magic Tower, bowed his head in apology.
Since Franz, of all people, the lord of this city, had caught the criminals himself, it was an incredibly awkward situation from their perspective.
Franz, who hadn’t intended for that to happen, was just feeling flustered.
“Well, I guess this much is just right…”
Since they were the ones responsible for the citizens' safety, it was better for them to have some degree of discipline.
“We will be taking our leave now, then.”
Bowing his head once more, the guard captain stepped away with his squad. Of course, the three back-alley vagrants were with them as well.
Franz stared blankly at their retreating backs before turning his head. Then he made eye contact with everyone looking at him.
“I-is something wrong?”
“There is something wrong. You had better explain exactly what it is - that power you showed in front of me.”
Yusti-ah narrowed her eyes and glared at him. It seemed she was misunderstanding, thinking he had been hiding something.
However, she wasn’t the only one showing such a reaction.
“Magic Tower master, I believe you clearly said you couldn’t use magic. Did I perhaps see something wrong?”
Arian was definitely smiling, but the emotion hiding beneath it was clearly negative.
She was definitely misunderstanding something too.
Behind them, Yuna was awkwardly scratching her head, and Hera was slowly shaking hers.
“Maybe this is for the best…”
He hadn’t planned on hiding it anyway. He had just been waiting for the right timing to tell them.
“It’s a bit much to talk about it here. Would it be all right if we moved somewhere else?”
They were already drawing a lot of attention for handing over the criminals.
Even so, it would be a bit inappropriate to bring up the story right here.
Fortunately, the women followed his suggestion without much complaint.
Franz immediately set off, and it wasn’t long before he arrived at the Magic Tower master’s Office.
“Everyone, take a seat wherever.”
Saying so, Franz sat down on a small, solitary sofa.
The other four split into pairs and sat on the long sofas facing each other on either side.
“Now, I need to tell them…”
Everyone’s gaze was directed at Franz.
Phew-.
Franz let out a short sigh.
He had agonized a lot over how to explain this situation to them for the past few days.
But why weren’t the words coming out easily? It was truly frustrating.
Even so, he had no choice but to speak because he had promised to do so.
“This is about when I fought the Demon God, but just like you guys said, I died.”
I died.
Did he ever think a day would come in his life when he’d say such words?
“I forced my mana core into a runaway state. There was no other way.”
There was no one here who didn’t know what happened when a mana core went into a runaway state. So it was only natural for their expressions to darken.
Arian, who knew magic well, even bit her lower lip.
“Don’t all make those faces. I’m perfectly alive and well right now.”
“Magic Tower master…!”
Arian opened her eyes wide and parted her lips, but unable to say anything, she quietly lowered her head.
“Well, the really important part starts now. Do you all remember the staff I was holding?”
“You mean the tree branch with leaves on it?”
Was that how it looked in Yuna’s eyes?
Then again, she wasn’t exactly wrong.
“It might have looked like that, but it was made by combining the Goddess’s holy relic and a branch of the World Tree. I was able to come back to life all thanks to that.”
“What exactly happened…?”
Perhaps because of the word “holy relic”, Yusti-ah showed a reaction.
“It was absorbed into my body.”
“A h-holy relic was absorbed into your body? How could such a thing…”
“Even I don’t really know about that part. All I know is that as it was absorbed into my body, I became a half-god.”
Everyone blinked their eyes as if they had no idea what that meant.
Even Arian, who had been keeping her head down, was looking at Franz before he knew it.
'Maybe it’d be faster to show them once rather than explaining it with words…'
Franz closed his eyes and focused on the power of creation inside his body.
What he earnestly desired at this moment was…
Right then, the memory of taking a walk with Hera suddenly popped into Franz’s mind.
And naturally, that thought manifested as his desire.
“W-wait…! What in the world is this…?!”
“Franz, you had this kind of taste…?”
“Magic Tower master…?”
“At this rate, won’t my unique position disappear…!”
When Franz opened his eyes, golden chokers were fastened around his neck.
Long leashes were attached to the chokers, and all the leashes led to exactly one place.
Franz’s hand.
Franz was holding his leashes.
Franz looked back and forth between the leashes in his hand and the women.
“How on earth did this happen…”
Had he perhaps been tainted by that kind of taste while taking a walk with Hera?
No, that couldn’t be. Absolutely not.
Fortunately, the leashes disappeared not long after.
Not only was the power Franz possessed incomplete, but using the power of creation in reality came with many restrictions.
The problem was that, unlike the leashes that had already vanished, their memories wouldn’t be erased so easily.
“You ended up putting a leash around my neck too…!”
Yusti-ah voiced her complaint with a flushed face.
Though Hera, sitting next to her, was flapping her ears as if she were happy.
Yuna and Arian were just touching their necks with confused expressions.
“Anyway, you understand with this, right? How I tied up those guys' feet earlier. Sorry about just now. It was a mistake. I’m still inexperienced, so I can’t control it well.”
Franz explained many things to them after that as well.
Things like how it would take about three weeks to fully recover his mana core, or how he would send Yuna and Hera back once his core was restored.
Fortunately, as time passed, the incident with the leashes seemed to gradually fade. Their expressions had returned to a calm state, after all.
It was when all the talking had finished and they came outside to see Yusti-ah off.
“Franz.”
Right before getting into the carriage, Yusti-ah suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“What is it?”
“Just thank you. For telling us without hiding it.”
“I promised I would.”
Yusti-ah definitely smiled, but for some reason, a sense of regret could be felt from her expression.
Soon, she got into the carriage and departed for Saint Seraphia Cathedral.
Maybe she wanted to stay together with everyone.
Thinking that, Franz watched the retreating back of the carriage as it grew distant.
* * *
How many days had passed since then?
He was sitting at his desk working as usual.
Suddenly, Arian came to the Magic Tower master’s Office.
“Magic Tower master, a letter has arrived.”
Saying so, Arian held out an envelope.
“Has what was bound to come finally arrived…”
He could tell who the sender was without even having to ask. A large seal of the Imperial Family was stamped on it, after all.
“I’ll be going, then.”
Anticipating that Franz wouldn’t be in a good mood, Arian hurriedly slipped out of the Magic Tower master’s Office.
Left alone, Franz carefully tore open the envelope using a letter opener. Then he pulled out the letter inside.
Quite a few words were written in the letter, but most of them weren’t very important.
You know, the usual things people say when writing a letter, like how the weather is.
The truly important sentence would be something like this.
[I would like for us to have a talk.]
The emperor was probably quite flustered as well. The guy who usually came straight to him after handling a job hadn’t sent any word for days.
If he had his way, he would want to put it off until his mana core recovered, but since it wasn’t a small matter, he couldn’t do that.
It would be best to set a date right away.
If there were a problem, it would be the fact that he had to travel by carriage…
But didn’t he have the special carriage he made before? That was ultimately a magic tool, so it should be able to operate independently of his mana core.
Getting up immediately, Franz headed to the secretary’s office where Arian would be.
“Arian, tomorrow…”
Arriving at the secretary’s office, Franz was about to speak but found himself at a loss for words.
Arian was holding two odd-looking leashes in her hands with a serious expression.
One had lace attached to it, and the other was made of black leather.
“…Sorry. I’ll come back later.”
“I-it’s not what you think…! Really…!”
Arian pleaded earnestly, hugging Franz’s waist and refusing to let go.
So what could he do? Franz had no choice but to sigh and face her once again.
“W-what brings you here?”
“It’s nothing much; I just think I’ll need to go to the Imperial Capital tomorrow.”
“You mean I should clear your schedule if you have any appointments?”
“Please do.”
Their conversation finished with that, and Franz was just about to leave the secretary’s office.
Arian grabbed the hem of Franz’s clothes.
“Magic Tower master, between those two earlier, which one is better…? O-of course, it’s not for me to wear, it’s for a puppy…”
Because of the sight Hera had shown earlier, Franz couldn’t quite erase his suspicions.
I was thinking that at this rate, they might all come wearing leashes.
Still, if he had to give an answer…
“…The one with lace.”
Saying that, Franz quickly slipped out of the secretary’s office.